By
Joshua
Michail
18
March, 2012
The
fact that religions have, so far, withstood the constant progress of
human enlightenment suggests something about the nature of religion
itself. The sort of progress that is the advent of scientific
understanding, technological improvement and secular humanitarian
ethics. Yet, the reason is not what religious people might hope. It's
not that the assertions of religions are true, because mostly they
are not. The survival of religions, almost amusingly, is because of
the evolution of religion. Indeed, the history of the world's
religions shows that over time they have changed, adapting to better
fit with the current social environment. Of course, this is only on
the whole, even if it's a sloppy-fit, and there are some religious
sects that hold on to more archaic versions. Religion, as a
phenomenon, is opportunistic and exploitative. Religion always seeks
to corner the market, to be the only game in town. But, philosophy
can compete and even surpass religion. With a philosophy one can find
that religion becomes entirely vacuous. In deed, the fact that
religion is human-made can be seen when one examines the reasons why
people choose to be religious. It would not be possible for any
religion to take root, let alone thrive, if their soil, the human
mind, were not fertile enough for religiosity.
Interestingly, the reasons
you might think a person
would join a church or identify with a religion are probably wrong.
Or at least, they may be only a few of the many reasons. It's likely
that you would say the reasons a person belongs to a church, or
religion, are the ones a person would say to explain for him or her
self. That is, you might just accept whatever reason a religious
person gives for being a member of a religious congregation. I don't
deny that there are the common reasons people think of, but I think
those commonly cited reasons are only scratching the surface of the
issue. I also think that those other possible, lesser-contemplated,
reasons are more powerful and yet under-appreciated.
I think, from a sociological
& psychological
perspective, people deeply desire certain things, which religions
offer. Religions survive by ingratiating the given cult authority
into the minds of the believers. In addition to a community,
religions generally also offer the succor of an afterlife, a sense of
significance or purpose, and strong order and rules. While the
“eternal paradise” concept may be appealing, it is also not
realistic, nor based on evidence. The sense of purpose, i.e.: “god's
plan”, is really merely appealing to individual insecurities.
People want the stability which comes from having absolutes. But
absolutist morality is so inflexible that reality itself becomes
unacceptable. And that is the off-putting flavor that religion
offers.
The power of nature is
undeniable. Even in ourselves,
we, who are but one of millions of species of life on this planet.
Our species evolved as a social animal. We have in our very nature a
dependency on each other. This drives each of us toward being a part
of a group. Religions, being formed and maintained by people, get
this fact. It's all about the sense of belonging, the community, the
shared culture and mutual support. Ultimately it can be described as
the attraction of the in-group. Religions appeal to this inclination
very well. They offer the sense of community membership that everyone
wants, and they do it skilfully. But there is more to the popularity
of religion than community alone.
Religions offer a world view,
a way to understand the
universe. Religious worldviews are certainly grotesquely flawed, but
the fact is they're generally comprehensive views, nonetheless. Of
course, when one chooses to believe in myths and superstitions, the
unnatural (supernatural) worldview seems to make sense to the
believer. It has the added advantage that the worldview is usually
already-constructed, making it much easier for people to adopt. They
need not think for themselves, which religions discourage anyway.
Religious worldviews tend to be not just easy to adopt and grasp, but
also uniform. I mean uniform, not in the sense that all the members
of the group believe exactly the same things, but rather that the
framework is the same. The minor differences are not what the
worldview is made of, despite wide variation and at times violent
disagreement.
While it's worth noting all
of what religions offer,
there are only three items that seem to be legitimate issues to
address. I believe there are secular alternatives that address those
three legitimate issues, the feeling of belonging to a community, the
moral compass and the philosophical worldview. I'll save those for
discussion later though. But first, I believe that what religions
offer, positive attributes, can be categorized into two main groups;
one which is vain and useless, and that which is a legitimate topic
of concern.
The first category, of what
religions offer, is absurd
or at least unfounded. People can do, and ought to do, without those
pretenses. They are only appealing for those of weak will or
ignorance. However good it may feel to believe such selfish nonsense,
the fact is that most of it, if not all, can be abandoned altogether
or substituted with more reality-based certitudes. In the second
category there are some offerings which really speak to human need
and the human condition. Yet, the religious construct which is
foundational to those offerings are harmful in the long-run, or at
least misguided. These issues can't so easily be done without, even
when the particular religious model is toxic. To this point, we are
fortunate, however, in that there are secular alternative options.
I think that there is another
thing which can explain
why religions are still so popular. Even in this era of instant
widespread information and immense knowledge -- factual &
objective knowledge -- on such a never-before-seen scale. This is
early indoctrination in one's life of the god meme. The religions
have intentionally devised that from the moment of birth a person
should be taught to be a part of the religion. In a sense it is the
confession on the part of the religious that the ideology they hold,
the faith, would not have much of a chance of surviving if it were
only allowed to be introduced to adults. It is a calculated
exploitation of the natural, evolutionary beneficial trait of youth,
to believe easily what the parents or other trusted adults say is so.
It's a credulity that can keep a child from a danger because she was
told that a 'boogie-man' will get her. But then, with constant
reinforcement the religion becomes sacred unquestionable, yet only
supposed, “truth”.
Atheism only offers us the
rejection of supernatural
nonsense, a rejection of unsupported claims by the way. We throw off
the indoctrination and rightfully so. But, there is something that is
missing for so many people once that liberation from superstitious
dogma has been achieved. There is even for an atheist something
impressive or appealing to that, which for so long has been attached
to religion, but which can be usefully decoupled from it. Those
advantages and pleasures can be offered us, minus the superstitions,
the authoritarian dogma and the factually false premises. I propose
that we seek the alternative secular worldviews, grounded in
objective facts and logic, and to promote them whenever we can. With
time and hard, but very worthwhile work, we may be able to replace in
large portions, if not entirely, religions. We may develop a better
way. We may provide the sense of community and traditions. We may
provide the moral compass, one that is concerned with human suffering
instead of pleasing an authoritarian dictator. We may offer a
worldview that promotes critical thinking and logic over blind
obedience and beliefs lacking in evidence.
Copyright © 2012 by Joshua
Michail
All
Rights Reserved.
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